A “personal injury” is a legal term that means an injury to the body, mind or psyche/emotions caused by another person’s failure to exercise reasonable care. If this lack of care constitutes “negligence” and this negligence led to your injuries, you may be entitled to receive compensation.

A “personal injury lawsuit” is the term used in common-law jurisdictions to refer to a type of tort lawsuit in which the person who files the suit has suffered harm to his or her body, mind or psyche.

Before taking any action, check with one of our personal injury lawyers whether you have a valid claim.

People have a duty of care to others in public and professional situations.

For instance, drivers have a duty of care to other road users and must follow the rules to avoid motor vehicle accidents; nurses and doctors have a duty of care to patients and must follow professional standards to avoid medical malpractice claims; nursing home caregivers have a duty of care to residents to avoid nursing home injuries, and so on.

Negligence refers to the failure to exercise this duty of care. So, negligent driving could be someone speeding and causing an accident by their dangerous actions. If you are injured as a result of that accident, you may have a valid personal injury claim against that driver.

The standard used to assess whether “negligence” occurs is if a person acts in a way that a sufficiently careful person in the same situation would not have acted. An individual is also considered negligent if they fail to do something that a reasonably careful person would have done in the same situation.

There are four basic questions you can ask to determine whether you have a valid personal injury claim:

1. Did the at-fault individual have a duty of care to you?
2. Did the at-fault individual breach that duty?
3. Did you suffer damages?
4. Were your damages a direct result of the at-fault individual’s actions?

Say that you were in a restaurant and the floor was wet and slippery because food had been spilled and cleaned up. You slipped on the floor and broke your arm, which meant you could not work for two months.

If no sign warning restaurant patrons of the hazardous floor was displayed, you may be able to sue the restaurant owner for negligence causing a slip and fall injury. The restaurant has a duty of care to look after the safety of its diners that was breached by the lack of a warning sign, causing your injury.

If, however, there was a visible sign saying “Beware! Slippery floor!”, it’s unlikely that you could claim negligence against the restaurant and file a personal injury claim. You were likely at fault for your injuries.

Damages are the losses or expenses incurred as a result of an accident.

For personal injury claims in Florida, you may be entitled to file for a range of damages, depending on the nature and extent of your injury.

Most claims in Florida involve the following types of economic and non-economic damages:

• All medical costs relating to the injury — past, present and future
• Out of pocket costs relating to the accident/injuries
• Loss of earning capacity
• Lost wages
• Property damage
• Pain and suffering
• Loss of consortium (the support, companionship, and aid from a spouse)

If a loved one’s accident was due to another individual’s negligence and results in death, you may be entitled to additional damages in a wrongful death claim. This can include funeral and medical expenses, loss of future income, loss of companionship, and more.

A statute of limitations is a time limit imposed on filing certain legal claims. This is done because evidence tends to become less reliable as time passes.

In Florida, the statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits against an at-fault individual is four years from the date of the accident. For an uninsured/underinsured claim against your own insurance carrier, the statute of limitations is five years.

That sounds like a long time but, sometimes, the full extent of injuries is not known until long after the accident.

In most cases, it is best to file your claim as soon as possible after your accident. Your personal injury lawyer can focus on recovering the maximum damages for you as quickly as possible while you recover from your injuries.

The personal injury claims process is rarely simple. Complications are common and insurance companies are not in the habit of paying out until they have to.

Many insurance companies fight claims and contest liability, attempting to place some or all of the fault onto the claimant.

So, the claims process can be tough and it’s best to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer to look after it. Your attorney will explain the claims process from the initial investigation into what happened, the documentation of injuries through medical care and other losses, and the presentation of the claim to the insurance companies.

The vast majority of claims are settled out of court but not usually without lengthy negotiations and the threat of going to trial. Your attorney can look after all communications with the insurance company, while you recuperate and recover from your injuries.

If you have suffered an injury in an accident that was the result of someone else’s negligence, call 866-233-4529 for a free case evaluation with a personal injury lawyer from Gerber Law in Sarasota.

If you are too injured to come to us, we will come to the medical facility or your home for the initial consultation.